[shook1]

It's been discussed before, but I like to refresh people's memories once in a while. Here is the GTO test car

[richard sargent]

The mirror doesn't look like the right time period.
The turn signal in the grille look homemade not like a GM engineering
The placement of the GTO emblem in the grille?

[shook1]

This picture was copied from Car Craft magazine by me. It is legit. The car was used to test blow outs. It was in service for several decades, hence the non-stock parts.

Luke

[The Boss]

Isn't it still around? Has it been restored?

[Keith Seymore]

Yes - it was still in use at the DPG when I worked there (1990 - 1994).

It has been restored to it's former (purple) glory and now resides in the GM Heritage Center collection.

K

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I realize it's almost unbelievable, but I just received confirmation via email from the GM Heritage Center that this Plum Mist '67 is, in fact, the tire test car from the DPG:





K

[F ROCK]

i've read the thread about this car a few times. love it. i'm sure i forgot some of it tho...

why are the grilles modified? whats on the hood? are there anymore pics of this car? doesnt look rusty in the old pic. stored indoors? did anything more from the story come to the surface? ever crashed? mystery engine? any story about blowing up the original? used for anything else? how was it decided that it should be restored, and not tossed?

[Keith Seymore]

I can speculate -

Originally Posted by F ROCK

why are the grilles modified?

Why not? (lol) Seriously - the DPG is (...sorry - "was"...) populated by a bunch of car nuts in a remote location where controls were a bit looser than in the mainstream GM. They were always playing around with something (Impala SS wagons, extreme Corvettes, off road race pickups, custom GMC motorhomes as chase trucks, etc). Just a natural extension of what they do out there.

Originally Posted by F ROCK

whats on the hood

An air deflector of some kind. The car was used for "high speed" work and was purely function over form and I think at some point they began to revel in that.

Originally Posted by F ROCK

any more pics of this car?

I'm sure there are, for as long as it was out there. Probably lots of informal shots in guy's toolboxes - I may even have some somewhere - but I've never seen any other "published" photos.

Originally Posted by F ROCK

doesnt look rusty in the old pic. stored indoors?

It's Phoenix. Unpainted cars don't rust out there. (It sat outside the whole time).

Originally Posted by F ROCK

did anything more from the story come to the surface? ever crashed? mystery engine? any story about blowing up the original? used for anything else?

No. Every time they used it (lol). No. Lost oil pressure - probably just wore out in conjunction with laterial g's. I doubt it (all of the air management/quick deflation machinery probably kept it from being useful in other tests) It may have been used in more mundane testing before being commissioned as the tire test car.

Originally Posted by F ROCK

how was it decided that it should be restored, and not tossed?

Well - again - there's a bunch of motorheads at the DPG so I suspect they knew what they had, especially as as time went on. Additionally, Jeff Denison is the one that informed Eric White (gtoric) and me that it was the same car as the one in the Heritage Center (...I could hardly imagine it....) so I have to believe he had his hand in that as well.

Jeff is not directly (ie formally) involved in the collection or in the management of GM assets (as far as I know) but is highly respected and has a lot of influence on the decisions that are made. You can rest easy knowing that he is keeping an eye on the Pontiacs that GM owns -

K

[The Boss]

Cool info, thanks Keith.